Rejection
by AJRedRobin
Summary: A two part story. Kwai Chang Cane is rejected by his family.
1. Chapter 1

Rejection

The day was gorgeous, one of those summer days that children could not resist. It would prove to be quite an adventurous day, with the exception of one detail. This day would hold tragedy for one small boy, and continue until fate would finally bring him the acceptance that he craved. Kwai Chang Caine rose early. The rest of the family was still asleep. Dawn slowly crept through the window brushing away the night as shadows were chased away. Today, Ping Hai had promised to show young Caine the secret place that he had discovered. Ping Hai was Kwai Chang Caine's best friend. To tell the truth, Ping Hai was his only friend. No one wanted to play with a half Chinese half American boy, despite the fact that his grandfather was one of the wealthiest men in the village. When Captain Thomas Henry Caine brought his young bride home from America saving her from a fate worse than death, her family could not have been more grateful. She had been kidnapped along with several other young women and sold into servitude for prostitution. Another unscrupulous sea captain was paid handsomely to transport the young women overseas, but when Captain Thomas Henry Caine learned of the incident, he freed the young women and the sea captain was thrown in jail. Even so, when her family learned of the marriage, not all were happy. It would seem that the daughter of Pai Fa Ling was to be the wife of the province warlord of Hunan, joining the two houses into one powerful force, but Pai Fa Ling, father of Mai Ling could not have been more proud of his daughter. She had done what he wished he had been able to do, marry whom he wished, but that had not happened back then. He prayed there would not be any repercussions because of the dishonor that had been done, but the warlord would not hear of the marriage for weeks. In the end, it took nearly nine years. With the warlord fighting other battles, repercussions would not come until long after Mai Ling was dead, and on a day that would change a young boy's life forever./

Young Kwai Chang Caine rushed through breakfast despite his grandfather's words

"You are in such a hurry young one. Do not rush so. Rushing causes evil to enter the stomach. Show good manners and the gods will keep you healthy."

"Listen to your grandfather, Kwai Chang," his grandmother stated. "You will get sick if you eat too much too fast."/

"Yes, grandmother."

"Where is your father this morning?"

"I do not know," Young Caine replied.

"He has not been himself since he received the news of his mother."

"What news?" Young Caine asked his curiosity piqued.

"You will have to ask your father about it," Grandfather Pai Fa Ling stated. "It is not right to gossip about other people's misfortune."/

"May I go outside to play?"

"Have you prayed this morning to our ancestors?"

"Yes, grandfather."

"Then you may go outside and play."

"Thank you grandfather."

Though Kwai Chang wanted so much to race out the door to freedom, he managed to restrain himself. He carried his bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen area and placed them in the already waiting bucket to be washed. He then dipped his hands in another nearby basin and thoroughly washed them. Once done, Kwai Chang ran outside to meet his friend, Ping Hai.

"There you are, what kept you?" Ping Hai asked Kwai Chang./

"My grandparents," Caine said, with a role of his eyes and a shrug of his shoulder.

"Didn't let you rush through breakfast?" Ping Hai stated.

"How did you know?"

"You have rice on your shirt," Ping Hai pointed out.

"Kwai Chang looked down at the rice clinging to the front of his blue shirt and brushed it away. "Are you going to show me that secret place you told me about?"

"Of course, but we'll get to that later. I don't want to miss the summer solstice lion dance."

"I did not know that was going to be today."

"Everyone knows about it. Come on, we must get there early."

The two rushed down the lane leading to the center of the large village. Disapproving eyes turned in their direction. Merchants with their carts tried to avoid the two boys as best they could.

"Watch where you are going or I will tell your parents."

"Hooligans, where are your manners?" another merchant complained as his cart of vegetables and fruit spilled on the ground.

"I am sorry Mr. Fong," young Caine said. "I will help clean it up."

"We'll be late for the lion dance," Ping Hai complained.

Kwai Chang Caine stooped to help the merchant pick up what was spilled. "I will meet you there."

"The lion dance will not start until the sun reaches its xenyth, or didn't you know that?" a monk in robes stated.

"We want to be early so we can be able to see," Ping Hai replied.

"There will be plenty of places to view the lion dance. You will not miss a thing. Go and play somewhere else while everyone goes about their own business for the day. The lion dance will not start for several hours yet."

Kwai Chang finished assisting Mr. Fong.

"Here, for your trouble," Mr. Fong handed to young Caine a large round juicy pear. "Since you helped you may have the fruit."

"Thank you, sir," Kwai Chang Caine bowed.

"Just be more careful next time."

Kwai Chang Caine turned toward his friend and received a sour look for his return.

"We can share?" Caine said, holding out the large golden fruit.

"All right."

"Since we have more time, why don't you show me that secret place?"

"Okay, it's this way."

Kwai Chang Caine followed his friend down another winding path. "Doesn't this path lead toward the monastery?"/

"Yeah, but I found another path that will take us inside. I found an opening in the wall. I found a large pond there. We can go swimming."

"I do not know. This does not seem right to me."

"Come on," coaxed Ping Hai. "I saw several boys swimming the other day. We could leave our clothes in the bushes, and no one will ever know."

Kwai Chang Caine hesitated before going in. All his life he had been taught the difference between right and wrong, and to sneak into the monastery seemed wrong to him. When he was five, he watched as older boys waited outside the monastery to enter. Very few boys were allowed in, and when they had been accepted, he often would see that their heads had been shaven. It was a curious thing, and Kwai Change dreamed of being a part of their secret world. Kwai Chang suddenly heard a commotion on the main road. Several horses were coming down the road at a fast pace. If he did not decide now, he might not get another chance./

"All right, but only for a few minutes."

The boys scurried down the road that led to the monastery, and hopefully hidden adventure.

Continues with Part 2


	2. Chapter 2

Rejection

Part 2

"Here it is. See I don't think anyone knows this is here. Even on the outside you can't see it."

"How did you find it?" Kwai Chang asked.

"My ball rolled behind the bushes and that's when I found it."

Both boys peered through the small opening in the wall. It was just large enough for two boys their size to fit. Both boys squeezed through to find themselves behind more bushes and not far a large pond, almost a lake.

"See I told you," Ping Hai whispered to his friend.

"Why must we whisper?"

Kwai Chang's gaze was drawn across the pond as Ping Hai pointed toward something. There were three monks sitting on the opposite bank meditating, though none were facing their direction. The boys quickly stripped off their clothes and quietly slipped into the water. It was cool in the pool and the boys relished in it for the day was going to be warmer than anyone expected. Forgetting about the three monks, the two boys were soon laughing and playing in the water the way boys do. Their play though would be suddenly interrupted. A face turned in their direction, curious but not stern, but it was enough to unnerve one of them.

"Uh oh," Ping Hai stated. "We better go, Kwai Chang. I think we've stayed too long."

"Why?"

"Because I think one of the monks just spotted us. Quickly before he comes in this direction."

Both boys ducked back under the bushes near the hidden breach in the wall. They scrambled to get their clothes on as quickly as they could. They were soon through the opening and back out into the dusty road leading back to the village.

"That was close," Ping Hai stated./

"You nearly got us into trouble," Kwai Chang Caine chastised his friend. "I'm never going to do that again."

"Did you see the eyes of that monk?"

"No, I did not."

"They were . . . strange."

"How did you even see them when he was still so far away."

"He was a lot closer than you think, Kwai Chang. Your back was to him. I tell you I saw his eyes. I don't think I will ever forget them."

"Perhaps it might teach you not to take such chances. I did not want to go in there in the first place. It was wrong, and we were nearly caught. I must get home. My father and grandparents will be worried."

"Ah, you'll miss the lion dance."

"I need to go home," Kwai Chang Caine stated as a strange uneasiness came over him. The two boys headed back through the village. Suddenly, a look of great horror appeared on Kwai Chang's face. "NO!" He raised toward the lane that led to his home when someone grabbed him from behind. "FATHER! GRANDFATHER, GRANDMOTHER! NO!"

The only home that young Kwai Chang Caine had ever known was a smoldering ruin and three bloody bodies lay on the ground.

"No, no, no," Kwai Chang continued to weep and struggle in the man's grasp. He did not notice that the man had sprinkled something on the ground in front of him. His eyes were transfixed on what was ahead. Through his tears, he saw a man on horseback watching the burning house. Caine watched as he turned his horse with one hand, and in the other was a saber, dripping with the blood, an image that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

"I vowed I would revenge the dishonor that was done to my family. That day is today," the man stated. The man appeared to be oblivious of what was around him.

Kwai Chang Caine watched grief stricken as the man spurred his horse and rode away. Caine tried to pull himself away from the man that held him, to follow the man on horseback, not certain what he was going to do, but the man continued to hold him back. Rage filled him and all he could see for the moment was death. As he struggled to get loose, several other men on horseback followed their leader, almost trampling Caine in their wake. Once the soldiers were gone, young Kwai Chang Caine collapsed into the arms of the man who held him.

"Why did you stop me?"

"The soldiers would have killed you if they knew you lived there. Do you have any other family?"

"My mother had a sister, my Aunt Lin Fa Quan. She lives down at the other end of the village. I must recover what I can."

"The house still burns. There is nothing to recover. You must go to your aunt."

"Kwai Chang Caine hung his head as more tears slipped down his cheeks. Deep down he did not wish to go to his aunt, but she was all the family that he had. Perhaps with the death of his father, and grandparents, her heart may soften. After all, his grandparents were her parents as well. They were family./

"I will walk with you," the man who grabbed him stated.

Kwai Chang felt the man's hands on his shoulders guiding him along the long road leading to the other end of the village. The home of his aunt was a lavish one. She had also done well for herself, marrying a man who was twice her age, and twice the wealth. Kwai Chang remembered when she would visit on occasion, making it obviously known to her sister, Caine's mother when she lived, just how obedient and proper she had been. Lin Fa Quan could not help rubbing in the fact that her sister, Mai Fa Ling Caine, had married an outsider, and when she gave birth to Kwai Chang, she snubbed her nephew at every turn, choosing to lavish her attention elsewhere. She stopped visiting when Kwai Chang's mother died.

Kwai Chang approached the house, his head bent in sorrow. He was barely aware when the man that guided him to the door had knocked on his behalf.

"What is it? What do you want?" a servant came to the door.

"We have news for your mistress."

"She is not here. If you will leave your name, I will let her know who has called."

"This boy says he is her nephew."

"And who is this boy?"

"I am Kwai Chang Caine."

"My mistress is not here. You must come back another time.

"I cannot come back," Kwai Chang stated. "I have no place to go."

"I do not understand," the servant stated. "Why do you not go home?"

"What is going on here?" Lin Fa Quan came to the door dressed in robes of red and gold that barely covered her exposed body. "I said I did not wish to be disturbed."

"In the background was the sound of someone Caine did not know, the sound of a man.

"My love, come back to bed. We are not done."

That did not sound like the husband of his aunt. Young Caine tried to keep his eyes downcast as he was taught. To stare at such near nakedness and obvious indiscretion by an elder would have been rude and in poor taste. It would seem his aunt had found someone else to lavish her attentions, someone not her husband.

"Please, Aunt Lin, it is I, Kwai Chang . . ."

"Do not call me that, boy. You may be my sister's son, but you are no nephew of mine."

"Please, my father . . . and grand . . ."

"What about your outsider father?"

"He is dead."

"Really, and what of my parents? Did they do the sensible thing and throw you out?"

"They are dead as well." Kwai Chang said barely above a whisper. "They are all dead."

"No! I do not believe you."

"It is true, Lady Quan," the man spoke. "There were many witnesses. Soldiers came to the house. They cut them down with sabers, and they burned the house."

"Who did this?"

"It was the warlord of Hunan province."

"So, I warned my sister if she did not give up her marriage to the outsider there would be repercussions. You are to blame for this boy. You caused my sister's death and cost her place in society. She could have been the wife of a great lord, rich beyond her dreams. What do you say for yourself?"

"Lady Quan, I do not think the boy is to blame."

"Of course he is, he was born."

"Please Lady Quan, you are all he has in this world."

"I have no nephew. He is dead to me. Let him go back to his father's home and burn with it."

Hearing the harsh words of his aunt, that he was not welcome in her home, young Kwai Chang Caine turned away and walked back down the road, back to the smoldering ruins of his home. He could sense the man who tried to help him, followed discretely behind. Once Kwai Chang reached the lane that lead to his once happy home, he just stood there, staring at the smoking ruins. The bodies of the dead still remained where they lay. Kwai Chang Caine walked slowly to where his father's body lay and knelt on the ground. He lay his head down on his father's chest and wept once more. Minutes slipped into hours and the sun slowly sank in the west, as the shadows deepened and darkened, creeping across the land as the day slowly slipped into night. Behind him the man stood sentry, guarding his chosen charge.

"You cannot stay here," the man finally stated.

"I must see to their burial," Kwai Chang stated.

"Let the village take care of it. Without the help of your aunt you do not have money for burial."

"Where am I to go?" Kwai Chang asked. "I have no one now, at least not here."

"What do you mean?"

"My father came from America, a place called Lordsville. I do not know how to get there."

"You have lost everything, young Caine. You must find a way to survive. Only then will you be able to go to America and learn if your father still has family."

"I know that I have a grandfather. My father told me that he lives and works in Lordsville. He sent him letters . . . but none came back."

"How do you know that he still lives?"

"I know he does," Kwai Chang insisted.

"Perhaps some day you will go there, but you must survive to do that."

"How?" Kwai Chang asked./

"Go to the monastery. Perhaps they will help you. The Shaolin often help those who are in great need, but you must wait for them to invite you in."

Kwai Chang Caine remembered the day he watched outside the monastery, the boys waiting to get in. He wondered what went on in the immense and mysterious structure. He knew that it was often a place where those in need could receive help, but would they help him? Still, the boys that were there did not seem to be asking for help. They had been waiting for something to happen, to be accepted into the monastery, but as what, servants?

"If you are to become a student at the monastery, you must show the utmost patience, manners, and respect."

"A student?" It was as if the man had read his mind. Kwai Chang had not thought that he might become a student. He hoped only to ask for help, perhaps even for money so he could go to America.

"You will not last long alone in this world. There are many who would take advantage of a child alone, and one who is not fully Chinese. Go to the monks, there you may have a chance. There is always a first time."

"And if they do not accept me?"

"Do not think about that. Show only your true Self. Rejection can only come if you show impatience. Stand outside and wait and see, young Caine, and your destiny will be revealed."

"Who are you?"

"A friend," the man said and he left young Kwai Chang Caine to ponder his words.

End


End file.
